Now, scientists from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research have discovered that PCOS may be triggered in the womb before birth - and they've found success with a potential cure. Other symptoms include multiple cysts on the ovaries, as well as irregular periods and difficulties becoming pregnant.

Researchers surmise that this could be why it has been so hard to find the specific cause of PCOS, as it was being passed from mother to daughter via hormones while still inside the womb.

PCOS effects up to 5 million USA women, according to the CDC, and those with PCOS have higher levels of male hormones called androgens, which can result in the absence of ovulation (leading to infertility). Millions of women all over the world are affected by the condition, and researchers may have finally found the cause and treatment for it.

As the syndrome is known to run in families, researchers wanted to test the idea that the imbalance in the pregnancy may induce the same condition in daughters as well. These neurons manage the body's testosterone and, therefore, as the female offspring grew, they displayed PCOS symptoms because of high testosterone levels.

According to the researchers, the added AMH appeared to prompt overstimulation of a particular set of brain cells called GnRH neutrons, which are responsible for managing the body's testosterone levels.

Researchers were actually able to reverse this effect using an IVF drug called cetrorelix, and the mice ceased to have symptoms. By the end of the year, scientists hope to trial cetrorelix on women with PCOS.

Robert Norman, a professor of periconceptual medicine at the University of Adelaide in Australia who was not involved in the study, told New Scientist the study presented "a radical new way of thinking about polycystic ovary syndrome and opens up a whole range of opportunities for further investigation".

"It could be an attractive strategy to restore ovulation and eventually increase the pregnancy rate in these women", Paolo Giacobini, whose group conducted the research at Inserm, explained the New Scientist. A new study finds that the condition may be passed on from mother to daughter via hormones while the baby is still in the womb. "It's something we've been stuck on for a long time", he says.